Adele Patrick, GWL’s Lifelong Learning & Creative Development Manager, is Guest Selector at the 2018 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Adele has curated a series of panel discussions for the ‘Revolting Women’ programming strand, as well as a GWL Herland special, and the three day Take Over Tent for Revolting Women! Find out more below, or using the #RevoltingWomen on Twitter, to discover what to expect from GWL at this year’s festival, and learn where you can find us.
Revolting Women Strand at Edinburgh International Book Festival
“2018 is a wonderfully auspicious one to be invited to be a guest selector. The groundswell of discussions across the terrains of representation, gender, privilege, power and in/equalities is now omnipresent and evident across all publishing platforms. In this watershed year in the wake of #blacklivesmatter, #metoo, #nomore #TimesUp I have been given the opportunity to create events and sites at the Festival where the febrile, fertile and urgent issues of ‘intersectional’ feminism are foregrounded.” Adele Patrick, 2018.
Revolting Women Playlists
In her role as Guest Selector, Adele asked women writers appearing at the Festival for playlists of songs by women that empower, inspire and get their creative juices flowing. Find out more and view a list of the authors who have contributed their choices to the Revolting Women playlists in this special blog post.
Herland Salon with Glasgow Women’s Library, Tuesday 21st August, 6.30pm to 8pm, Spiegeltent, Edinburgh
The legendary Glasgow Women’s Library accessible salon will have its first Festival outing (expect a joy filled mash up of diverse musical and literary lionesses and raw, braw talent). Our Salonnières Zoë Strachan & Louise Welsh will welcome to the stage musician Heir of the Cursed, poet Nadine Aisha Jassat, flautists Diljeet Bhachu & Hannah Lee, and poet Katie Ailes.
More info on our website here, or to book here.
Take Over Tent for Revolting Women, Thursday 23rd, Friday 24th, Saturday 25th August, 10am to 6pm daily, West End of George Street, Edinburgh (look for the Bookshop at no. 3 on EIBF maps).
The Take Over Tent for Revolting Women (created in honour of militants and mavericks from 1918-2018) will be popping up with the intention of making feminist waves whilst providing an inspirational oasis for writers, readers of all ages and groups including many making their first Festival foray. Drop in for strident spine poems, manifesto work shopping and to fuel your appetite for change.
The Take Over Tent for Revolting Women with drop in and programmed activities, including Strident Titles for T-shirts and Totes with visual artist Helen de Main, and song writing workshops with vocalist, guitarist, poet and writer Beldina Odenyo Onassis whose on stage name is Heir of the Cursed. There will also be two ‘Time to ROAR’ sessions with ROAR, a group working to combat inequality in Scottish writing and publishing. To get the full score of what’s happening when please check out our website here. All events are free and there is no need to book. If you would like to bring a group to the tent please get in touch with us on info@womenslibrary.org.uk.
Panel Events as part of Adele Patrick’s curated ‘Revolting Women’ strand Edinburgh International Book Festival
Queer Africa: Chitra Nagarajan & Olumide Popoola, Thursday 16th August, 4pm, Garden Theatre, Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh (look for Garden Theatre at no. 12 on EIBF maps).
Chitra Nagarajan is an editor of She Called Me Woman, a groundbreaking collection of stories about life in Africa as a queer woman. These are narratives of first time love, curiosity and growing-up defying society’s rules. In When We Speak of Nothing, Olumide Popoola takes us on a journey of self-discovery from the racial tensions of London to the Niger Delta. Join them for a discussion on feminism and intersectionality in contemporary African communities and countries.
Tickets and more info here.
Deeds and Words: Diane Atkinson & Jane Robinson (chaired by Donna Moore), Saturday 18th August, 10.30am, Spark Theatre, West End of George Street, Edinburgh (look for Spark Theatre at no. 2 on EIBF maps).
100 years after British women first gained voting rights, two books tell of the remarkable women who fought for equality. Diane Atkinson shares her defining biography of the suffragettes, Rise Up Women, while Jane Robinson’s Hearts and Minds explores the Great Pilgrimage of 1913, which saw thousands of women descend on London and demand to be heard.
Tickets and more info here.
Breaking Down Barriers: Heidi Safia Mirza, Djamila Ribeiro & Sara Wajid (chaired by Akwugo Emejulu), Thursday 23rd August, 2.15pm, Garden Theatre, Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh (look for Garden Theatre at no. 12 on EIBF maps).
Heidi Safia Mirza, Professor of Race, Faith and Culture at Goldsmiths University London, and Sara Wajid, Head of Engagement at the Museum of London join Brazilian human rights activist and writer Djamila Ribeiro, and Professor of Sociology at Warwick University, Akwugo Emejulu. Together they discuss the women of colour who play a critical and revolutionary role in ‘detoxing’ institutions in the education and museum sectors. Their goal: to open up institutions to all people in the 21st century.
Tickets and more info here.
Pioneers and Provocateurs: Helen Pankhurst, Fern Riddel, Adele Patrick, Saturday 25th August, 10.30am, Spark Theatre, West End of George Street, Edinburgh (look for Spark Theatre at no. 2 on EIBF maps).
The stories of women’s struggles for suffrage are rarely rosy. Historian Fern Riddell’s new book Death in Ten Minutes reveals the shocking tale of Kitty Marion, a violent activist forgotten by history. Emmeline Pankhurst’s great-granddaughter Helen Pankhurst charts the progress of women’s rights in Deeds Not Words. Talking to Adele Patrick of Glasgow Women’s Library, they examine the past and question why so much remains to be done in the fight for equality.
Tickets and more info here.
